I’ve never had particularly good technique when it comes to drawing. I draw what I see, which, with portraits, brings the risk of strange proportions. The advice everyone always gives is to read up on the anatomy of the human head. It’s true, and good advice, because it helps you focus on shapes rather than details, but it’s the most dull thing ever. Still, if you can manage, try that first.

After that, Loomis is an excellent resource. Why? Because he describes the process of drawing the face in easy to understand steps, with really really useful examples and measurement charts. Unlike most art books, it’s not full of the artist’s attempts to impress the hell out of you. Loomis will do that, too, don’t get me wrong, because his works are amazing, but it’s clearly not his primary objective. His primary objective is to teach.

The examples he uses are of classic faces, not faces that you see nowadays, but in old romantic movies. That said, it doesn’t make them any less useful.

The book covers all ages, both male and female, and deviates to other styles, too, not just realism. Apart from faces, there is also a really good section on how to draw hands (as the title suggests). Hands are the trickiest things to draw, and Loomis makes it look easy. This book is meant for pencil artists, but even as a digital artist, it’ll teach you more than any other book you’ll find.

Live in the UK or Europe? Buy the book here.

Live in the US? Buy the book here.

However difficult it was, I am so very excited that it actually worked out! Below, you can see the animation and a gallery of all the frames for entertainment value.

I hope this will help you!!!

See above: all images from sketch to finished product. This took about 10 hours total, I think, though my perception of time in this is usually much longer, because it takes a while to get started, there is a lot of tweaking near the end and a lot of thinking about the best way to do things, which brushes to use, etc.

In the video you can see the entire process from beginning to end, sped up, so you don’t have to watch it for hours and hours.

To complete the step-by-step, you can download the Photoshop brushes that I used by clicking here.

Nowadays I hardly use the standard hard brush for base colouring anymore. In most cases I start out with the soft pattern brush right away and use that to block out the basic colours. It creates a nice blend of colours as well as providing some texture right off the bat.

If there isn’t enough crispiness to the painting, I usually go back to the hard brush. I used the hard brush for details in the eyes, and eyelashes, etc, for this painting.

The supersmooth skin brush I use toward the end to give the painting a soft, silky look. It also really helps to blend the tones. It’s a tricky brush though, because it is really hard not to overdo things with this brush.

Coming soon: Background painting tutorial!

I met Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha at their play called Asuncion in New York, and Darren Criss and Joey Richter after their music/musical/theatre performance in Boston.

See their signed portraits, and my photos with them, below.

First, when I opened the box in which the Inkling was shipped, I was greeted by a letter, which appeared to have been sent by no one other than my very own Inkling. It apologised to me profoundly for taking so long and then told me of a little gift to make up for it. And there I found a disk with tutorials by Wacom professionals, about design, but also about digital painting! I’m really excited to take a look at it, and will no doubt learn something new.

Anyway, onward. The box that contained the Inkling was, as usual, beautifully designed, and small. Opening it up, I was not overwhelmed by pieces and cables and tie-rips, there were only two parts: the Inkling (case), and the manual. Perfect, Wacom!

The manual is super easy – Ikea style – to understand, so instead of having to look up pages, you can just read it from front to back because it isn’t that big.

The Inkling casing actually really reminds me of those tiny portable toolkits full of screwdrivers. Funny, if you think about it, because in a way, the Inkling and it’s pen are the artist’s tools. I opened it up. The Inkling is tiny! And I was already impressed by how portable the box seemed. The cable to connect the Inkling to PC or Mac can be neatly tucked into the box (though never as neatly as Wacom does it). It’s short. Bit of a downer if you have a pc that is suspended in the air and you have nothing to put the Inkling on.

Tiny battery to put into the seemingly ordinary ballpoint pen (which clicks into the case, too). Of course, you have to wait three hours for the damn batteries (in pen and Inkling) to charge. Charging happens when you link the kit to the computer. So computer must be on. Not very handy.

But, as an artist should, I waited. When it was done charging, I jumped up and down once or twice for dramatic effect and got out the Inkling, turned it on, clipped it to paper (which starts a file), and started drawing. I traced a cat that I’d drawn first, but that failed miserably. I’m a digital artist, and I have trouble getting smooth lines on actual paper. No difference here. Movement with the pen is pretty rough, like some ballpoints get. But maybe it takes some getting used to. Making new layers works really well and easy, because all you have to do is press the button on the Inkling.

Soon found out  that just drawing instead of tracing is much easier for me. So I doodled, poorly and connected the Inkling to my computer when I was done, quickly installing the software and then loading my doodle bits into the viewer. The lines themselves do not look very impressive and kind of, I don’t know, thin? But the potential is definitely there. Especially the layering is great and the ability to turn the lines into vectors (in Illustrator), seems awesome. I have yet to understand how to do that when I export the file to Illustrator though (Why not Flash, Wacom?). It also exports to Photoshop, which I use for almost everything, so that is a good thing.

What I also really like is the viewer software, because it lets you see your steps in drawing by playing it line by line like a video. You can stop at any time, I think, and take frames from that point. Really nice touch.

I know that it’s going to take a lot of practice for me to learn how to do this. But it will definitely encourage me to make more traditional art again. The Inkling is a gadget, but a smart one, and a must have for any (travelling) artist.

However, sometimes, when life gives you lemons… (I’m disabled, receive a disability allowance, but started working more hours and now have to pay the government a lot of money back)

…you gotta make t-shirts.

So I have made a design ( called Upside Down Umbrella) and it is now up for voting on Threadless. If it gets enough (high) votes, it gets printed and I get 2500 dollars from Threadless!

You can rate it on Threadless.

What else can you do? Well, some of my friends really showed me the best way to help me out is by sharing the link to the t-shirt design on Facebook. What most of them have done is not only shared the link but wrote some very nice encouragements while doing so. Some even tagged their friends on Facebook in the comments of the shared message, meaning their friends get notified more directly about my design!

So, what can I say, tweet, share on Facebook, +1 on GooglePlus or just e-mail your friends if you think they would like my design and would be willing to score it for me! The design is still subject to six more days of voting!

For me, the biggest part of my style(s) is created by the brushes that I use. In a previous post, I linked you to other people’s brushes that I use. Today, I’m going to show you some of mine.

These are the brushes that I’ve been using most for my last couple of paintings. I’m constantly experimenting and make new brushes very often. Here are four Photoshop brushes that I’ve been using a lot:

1. Standard hard brush
   This is the brush that I use for most of my basic painting. I block out all the colours, blend, shade and do highlights with this brush. Then later, I use it for detailing, at a smaller size.
2. Smooth blending brush
   This brush I use to blend, especially when painting skin. The texture also works really well for hair and fur and fine fabrics. Don’t use it too small, the effect well be lost.
3. Rough texture brush
   Big painting? I use this to block out big areas, especially in backgrounds. I almost always end up blending and blurring it or painting over it, unless I’m feeling really brave. Really great for rougher paintings and landscapes.
4. Soft pattern brush
   Like brush number three, but much smoother, finer and softer. I use this for skin and fabrics when I’m not feeling brave enough for brush three. Blends really nicely. Don’t forget to erase edges, this one is a bit messy.

Download the brushes here. Oh, you get one extra that I totally forgot about. Lucky you.

So what’s new? Well, a spiffy new lay out of course. New portfolio pages and room for Testimonials! So have you worked with me, do you have an opinion about my art, or have I made art for you? Tell me what you think!

Also, all you will find here will be about art. For other things, you can visit my other blog Behind the Page.

So you might ask, why the change? Because this will soon be the home of my own company. I know, it sounds very exciting to me, too. I’m still working on the details but you’ll know more as soon as I do. Feel free to have a look around. See you soon.

From what I remember, I was never that much into art when I was little. I wasn’t very good at it and I don’t think there are any drawings saved from my childhood. I remember having watercolour pencils and liking them, but never taking any serious attempt to become an artist. Writing, even when I was little, was more my thing.

Equipment

Wacom Graphire2

We used to have Apple computers when I was little, and one day my dad came home with something new. A graphic tablet from Wacom. I think it was about 8 years ago, and I still have it, it still works and up to last year I used it vigorously. That trusty tablet is a Wacom Graphire2. No longer for sale, but I looked real hard and found a picture. The program I used to experiment and fail at the time was some version of Corel’s Painter. I think it was called Painter Classic. Although I can’t very well remember much about the program I can tell you about the tablet, having used it for so long. It is a5 size and it doesn’t have many pressure levels, but it has enough to let me make my favorite painting of all times. Funnily enough, the first digital painting I had a serious stab at remains the best I’ve ever made. The quality of the tablet becomes evident because it has survived me for 8 years counting. I think I once replaced the pen tip (it came with 10 tips), but other than that the tablet is still in it’s original form. There is a crack in the pen and the tablet has changed colour in places where my hand has rested most, but it still works like a charm.

Wacom Graphire4

In my last year of high school I got the idea of wanting to do things with my own money, so I bought a Wacom Graphire4. The old one was up for replacement anyway, though I used them both. It was more of an improvement than I thought it was going to be. After that I stopped experimenting though, often suffering hardware failure until I went from wireless to one with a cable, which seems to be more reliable!

I had no real reason to do art anyway because my high school didn’t really leave me any time to do art and I really didn’t know what to do either.

When I started university, probably in my second year, it changed and I got more into painting again. I still used my older tablet as well, and completed my first really big painting and good painting of the lead singer of the Fratellis. It took me about 50 hours to finish.

Wacom Cintiq 21UX

When I got my first internship I had the pleasure of working with a Wacom Cintiq 21UX. It’s a tablet that serves as a screen that you can also draw on with your pen. I used it to make some concept art. And once you’ve tried a Cintiq everything that you compare to it is less good. Thus I managed to make a deal that meant they paid for half of it and I paid for the rest and now I still have one. It makes a lot of people really jealous. I also have special extra pen that has all the traits of an airbrush. I don’t know how to use it properly though. It did open up a whole new world for me though. Oh, it’s 21 inch, which is quite nice and you can tilt it to any angle you like, as well as rotate the screen. To keep the surface from scratching and getting greasy, I’ve also bought a little pinky finger sleeve.

Wacom Intuos4

The latest addition to my tablet family is also the latest in the Wacom line: Wacom Intuos4. This tablet I acquired as payment for a designing job I did. It’s the largest portable tablet I’ve had and it is extremely precise. Downside is that it’s impossible to bring, as it’s too big to fit in regular bags. It has extensive programmable functions and the surface is slightly rough to resemble real paper. Mine came with a limited edition pen and pen stand with loads of different pen nibs. I also have an inking pen with it, but I’ve not used it yet, even though it’s supposedly very handy. I believe it uses real ink that you can use on actual paper as long as you put it on top of your tablet. You can then trace an image you’ve made on paper and it will be digitalised. Very natural.

Software

Corel Painter classic, 10 and 11

I’ve used several version of Painter, by Corel. Painter classic came with the first tablet and is not to be confused with MS Paint. Painter, in all version, has been the leading software in imitating actual brushes and materials. It’s a very artistic program that I fancy using for pencil like sketches most, though I do not use it anymore. It does make for very convincing water colour paintings and oil on canvas. I can’t really work with it that well because it is very true to real life, meaning you can’t just erase the digital paint.

ArtRage

Another program that I used was Artrage. I think it is meant for people that want to paint digitally but can’t afford expensive software like Corel Painter or Adobe Photoshop. It’s a very cheap, easy to use and well designed program. When I started using it, it didn’t support the use of layers, but later versions were upgraded with that very important functionality. What I like about ArtRage is that it looks really natural and like Painter also imitates brushes fairly well. It is an ideal program to use when you are just starting as a digital painter.

Open Canvas 4+

One of my all time favorite programs to do line art in is called Open Canvas. I recently discovered that it is back on the market, in a new version. Unfortunately it isn’t available for Windows 7 yet. Or Mac OSX. It has always been a Windows program. The version I used was 4+. There is something very shiney about the art that I used to make with Open Canvas. I’m hoping there will be a new release soon. Funny fact: Open Canvas 1 allowed two users to be painting on the same canvas, live. I never had the pleasure, though.

Adobe Photoshop CS2, 3, 4 and 5

The program I currently use for pretty much everything I do graphically is Adobe Photoshop. When I was a student I bought a student license, something I think should be available for everyone. A normal license is not affordable. I love the way Photoshop handles the tablet pen’s pressure levels and the extensive amount of customizable brush-presets it has.

Part of my success is caused by other people’s fabulous brush-settings. On occasion, I might set up my own brush, but most of the time I use other people’s textures and presets.

Here are a few Photoshop brushes you can download:

One that I haven’t actually used yet, but that looks really amazing, is by NatalieHijazi.
It looks like a brush that is perfect for drawings in which line is very important. You can download it here.

Some stunning texture brushes by Yumedust are ones that I use mostly on things like fabric, but they can easily be used on faces, as well. Download here.

Something that can be really time consuming is painting clouds. A good brush can help with that and luckily, Para-vine has made some awesome ones. You can download them here.

One that I use most and just had to look for an eternity to find, is a fantastic set by Adonihs. It really has every brush you need to create anything you’d ever want to create. I mostly use the general brushes though. You can download the set here.

I very recently looked for good pencil like brushes for a project and found a good set. Download here. (direct link to the file as it’s a bit unclear on the website itself)

Basically, those are all I’ve ever used. I hope they can be helpful to you, too.